


Companion

by AgentStannerShipper



Series: tumblr ficlets [125]
Category: Doctor Who, Torchwood
Genre: Episode: s12e01 Spyfall Part 1, Gen, implied past ianto/jack, only vaguely canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:27:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22330078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentStannerShipper/pseuds/AgentStannerShipper
Summary: Ianto gets it. After all, the Doctor isn't the only one with a complicated past.
Relationships: Ianto Jones & the Doctor
Series: tumblr ficlets [125]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1250822
Kudos: 23





	Companion

**Author's Note:**

> A reaction to the episode Spyfall Part One, written before part two came out (and jossed it just a little bit). This takes place in a universe that really just exists in my heart, where Ianto (through whatever reason you'd like) is one of 13's companions in addition to the others. The fic itself is self-explanatory.

Ianto doesn’t look up when he feels the sofa dip beside him. He’s not surprised. The TARDIS has a way of leading you right where you need to go – most of the time – and he has a feeling that right now, this is where the Doctor needs to be. Ianto’s grown to consider this place “his” room, tucked away between one of the swimming pools and a library. It’s small, with a squashy sofa that reminds him of the one at Torchwood, although without the takeaway stains, and a proper coffee cart. He may not be a teaboy any longer, but it’s a nice reminder. It keeps him grounded. And the Doctor has beans from the Andromeda system that make better coffee than anything he’s had on Earth.

He offers her the cup in his hands without so much as a glance. She takes it but doesn’t drink. He doesn’t think she drinks coffee – she bounces enough without it – but he knows the relief that can come just from holding a warm cup, cradling it between your palms and letting it bleed into you. It was why he started enjoying coffee in the first place. It’s why he has it now.

It’s a long moment before she says, “Thought it best to get away. The others…” She trails off, and out of the corner of his eye Ianto can see her bow her head.

“Did they say when they’d be back?”

She shook her head, the curtain of her hair brushing the rim of the mug. “It’s too quiet. I got so used to having them all around…this time’s the first in a long while that I’ve had a full crew…or nearly, anyway.” She was quiet awhile. “You didn’t leave.”

“I don’t mind the quiet.”

“Nowhere else to go?”

The words are bitter. Ianto knows bitter. He smiles and wonders if it’s unkind of him, but he doesn’t think she’ll mind. “You’re not the only one, you know.”

“Not the only one what?” She could look at him now. Jack would have, cryptic statement like that. She doesn’t.

“Did Jack ever tell you about me and the Cybermen?”

“No.” Her fingers drum on the cup, but he can hear the cautious interest in her voice.

“I was at the battle of Canary Warf. Did he tell you that?”

“Yeah. That he mentioned.”

“My…girlfriend was there too. Lisa.” Her name doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s been a long time coming, but it doesn’t. “She was converted. Only partially, though. I got her out.” He stands, crossing over to the coffee cart and pouring himself a new cup. He needs something to do with his hands. Over his shoulder, he says, “I brought her to Cardiff, hid her in Torchwood’s basement. I was so sure I could fix her, make her human again.” He stares into the cup, watching the foam swirl. “She was too far gone.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago.” A lifetime. More than one. “I almost let her rebuild the Cyberman army. She could have taken over the world, and I wouldn’t have stopped her.” He took his coffee and sat down again. “We all have bad days.”

It startles a laugh from her. “I’m not sure they compare.”

“Well, I’m young. I’ve got time.”

“Are you calling me old?”

It’s a tease. He can hear it, and it makes him smile again. “The way Jack spoke of you, even after he stopped idolizing you, always made me jealous.” He takes a sip. “You changed him fundamentally. You made him want to be a better person. Not just want, you made him _try_ to be a better person.” He looks at her, for the first time since she walked in, and she’s looking back, her blue eyes open and earnest, and there’s an old pain behind them, one he’s seen before. Not in the mirror, not yet, but he suspects he’ll get it too, one day. “The Master may have put doubt in the others, but not in me. I already knew. You’re not a god, Doctor. You’re as human as the rest of us.”

She grins at the absurdity of the statement, and he grins back. She sets the cup aside and folds her hands together, tucking them between her knees. “You’re good at perspective, you know that?”

“I do my best.” He sets his own cup aside, angling towards her. “They’ll be back. And they’ll be better for knowing.”

“You really think so?”

“Well, speaking from experience, sometimes it can be a relief to find out that someone you idolized is just as flawed as you are. It puts you on equal footing.”

“Thanks, Ianto.” She bumps him with her shoulder, an easy affection that Ianto’s learned to appreciate. She sits back, crossing her legs as she tucks her feet up on the sofa. “You mind if I stay here awhile?”

“Be my guest.”

They lapse into silence, but Ianto doesn’t really mind. There’ll be excitement soon enough. And in the meantime, he’ll enjoy the quiet.


End file.
